Gloria Ross papers, circa 1924-1998

A small amount of biographical material on Gloria Ross includes resumes, biographies, career summaries, a high school yearbook, and her college diploma. Also found is one videocassette containing a television interview. Family records primarily consist of news clippings about Ross's father, Alfred Frankenthaler.

Correspondence is with artists, weavers, workshops, publications, and galleries. Contents are primarily of a professional nature discussing tapestry commissions and sales, artist collaborations, exhibitions. Subject matter may directly relate to correspondence found within project files, exhibition files, and personal business records. Some of the correspondence is in French.

Correspondence is arranged chronologically.

Project files primarily document Ross's collaborations with prominent artists to create tapestries of their paintings. She worked with artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, Romare Bearden, Louise Nevelson, Milton Avery, and Stuart Davis to create designs and selected weavers to translate the artworks into tapestries. She also oversaw commissions and sales of these works to individuals, corporations, and museums. Project files may include correspondence, contracts, invoices, notes, photographs, yarn samples, and a few maquettes and cartoons. Also of note are extensive files regarding her collaborations with Kenneth Noland, with whom she had the longest working relationship of any artist. Included is documentation regarding the Native/Noland series. For this series Ross worked with Navajo weavers to create tapestries based on Noland's geometric paintings. Researchers should note that a few files document project collaborations that were never realized.

Other project files found here include a commissioned tapestry for Temple Emanu-El in collaboration with artist Mark Podwal, as well as commissions for Mazza Gallerie, Phoenix Civic Center, and Westinghouse Broadcasting Company. Documents include correspondence, invoices, agreements, photographs, and notes. Files regarding a Vesti Corporation mostly contain legal records and correspondence regarding Gloria Ross's role in the project.

This series is arranged as 2 subseries.

Exhibition files document various solo and group exhibitions of Gloria Ross tapestries. Files may include correspondence, planning documents, loan forms, lists of works, press clippings, exhibition catalogs, and photographs. Also included are records of the exhibition "Navajo Weavings: State of the Art," curated by Ross at Kauffman Galleries. One videocassette documents an unspecified exhibition of Gloria Ross tapestries. Researchers should note that additional documentation on exhibitions may be found in Series 2: Correspondence.

Found here are records of Gloria Ross's professional activities, including her participation in symposia, lectures, public events, and documentary film projects. Files may include correspondence, draft lectures, programs, and event publicity. Two short documentaries found on two videocassettes were produced for the Denver Art Museum. Also found are records of Ross's service on the board of the Textile Museum. Additionally there are subject files that Ross maintained regarding various artists, weavers, and tapestry workshops, which include correspondence, photographs of artwork, publications, and lists.

Personal business records primarily document Ross's business relationships with weaving workshops and art galleries. Included are extensive correspondence, agreements, and financial documents from Atelier Raymond Picaud, Pinton atelier, and Edinburgh Tapestry Company (Dovecot Studios). Also found are extensive records with Pace Editions, the major sales agent of Gloria Ross tapestries. Other records include commission ideas, inventories of works, sales records, and travel documents. Also of note is business correspondence with tapestry producer Yvette Conquil-Prince. Researchers should note that much of the documentation in this series is in French.

Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, posters, and press releases, as well as news clippings regarding exhibitions of Gloria Ross tapestries and Navajo tapestries. Also found are a few newsletters and bulletins from art museums.

Personal photographs of Gloria Ross depict her as a child, on her wedding day, at an event with Gerald Ford, and with her sister Helen Frankenthaler. Also found are numerous photographs and color transparencies of Gloria Ross tapestries, including a few installation views, and Navajo tapestries donated and exhibited at the Denver Art Museum. Additionally, there are many polaroids of Navajo weavers and their tapestries and weavers working at the Pinton Atelier and Edinburgh Tapestry Company.

Artwork of note includes a small painted canvas by Paul Jenkins. Additional artwork includes color swatches, yarn, and unidentified textile samples, most likely created for collaborative projects with painters. Researchers should note that many other identified drawings and textile samples are included in Series 3: Project Files.